Linguistic Survey of India

24

CHHATTTSGAfJHT, LARlA, OR KHALJ&HT-

This dialect is commonly known by the first of the three names given above,

Name of diaUct. Chbattlsgayhl, or the language of Chhattisgarh. The district

of Bilaspur forms a portion of that tract, and is known in

the adjoining district of Balaghat as Khaloti. Cbhattisgarhl is also spoken in a part of

the latter district, and is there known as Khaltahl, or the language of Khaloti. To the

east of the Chhattisgarh plain lies the Oriya-eountry of east Sambalpur, and the Oriya

Feudatory States. To the people of those parts, the Chhattisgarh country to the west

is known as the Laria country, and hence Chhatiisgarhi is there called Laria.

The head- quarters of Chhattisgarh! are the two British Districts of Baipur and

, tf ^ . Bilaspur in the Central Provinces, Here, and in the western \

Area in ^flttett spoken. r <•%*..*

portion of the Sambalpur district! the language is spoken in

its purity. In the south-west, however, of Baipur, the local language is a form of

OpysL Cbhattisgarhl is also spoken in considerable purity in the Feudatory States to

the south and west of the two main districts, — i.e., in Kankcr, Nandgaon, Khairagarh,

Chuikhadan, and Kawardha, — in the north-east of the Chanda District, and in the

eastern portion of the Balaghat District where, as already said, it is known as Khaltahl.

To the east of Bilaspur, it is spoken in the Feudatory 8tate of Sakti, and in parts of

Baigarh and Sarangarh. North and east of these last lie the Tributary States of Korea,

Sarguja, TTdaipur and Jashpur. In the first three the Aryan language is a sub-dialect of

Chhattisgarh!, called Surgujia, which is also spoken in the western portion of the last.

M . .« . The following table shows the estimated number of

Number ot speakers. %

speakers of Chhatttsgarhi :—

Number of
spe-ikers.

Chanda . . ♦ . -.-.'• . . . . . 31,300

Raipur 1,200,000

Bilaspur .... . . . ..... U4d,000

Sambalpur ............ 147,000

Balaghat . . 88,300

Kanker . 30,100

Naudgaon 174,000

Khairagarh , 159,491

Chuikhadan 32,979

Kawardha 88,000

Sakti ............ 23,174

Baigarh 127,000

Samagarh 48,433*

Total . 3,301,780

Besides the above Chhattisgarh! is also spoken in the neighbouring Oriya«speakin<*
States and in Bastar State, in which the main Aryan language is the HalabI dialect of
Marathi, by settlers from the Chhattisgayhi, or as it is here called the Laria, country.
In Bamra*the greater part of the west of the State is entirely occupied by them. The
following are the estimated figures : —

Bastar 125,141

Bamra • 3,900

Kairokhol ............ 43

Sonpur 2,100

Patna 5,750

Kalahandi ............ 7,850

Oriasa Tributary Statai 1,311

Totas • 34,095

* R*yw<* figntwi.

CHHATTlSGARHi.

25

Finally, the following are the figures for the Surgujia sub-dialect ;—

Korea 36 f l74

Sarguja 293,164

Udaipmr 35,208

Jashpur ..... ....... 20,000

Total

384,546

Besides the above, six broken dialects, as named below, are spoken in Ohhattisgarh
and the neighbouring Feudatory States by aborigines who have forsaken their ancestral
tongues, and try to speak the language of their Aryan-speaking neighbours. These are
rather jargons than dialects, and it ?f ill bfe understood that the correctness of the
Ohhattisgarhi depends a great deal upofc the personal equation of each speaker. The
following are these broken dialects :«—

Name of dialect.

*
Where spoken.

Number of speakers.

Sadri Korwa ....
Baigani .....

Binjhwari .....

Kalanga

Blralia v .

Jashpur . . . . .

Balaghat, Haiptir, Bilaapur, Sambalpur, State
Kawardha,

Raipur, States Raigarh, Sarangarh, Patna

State Patna .....

States Sonpur, Patna ....

4,000
7,100

9,662

600

13,560

Total . j

34,922

With reference to the above, it is necessary to explain that the term * Sadri * is
used in this part of India to imply the form which an Aryan language takes in the
mouth of an aborigine. Thus, Sadri Korwa means the form which the local Aryan
language, in this case SurgujE, takes in the mouth of a Korwa. Similarly, the Sadri
Kdl of Bamra means the form which an Aryan language, in this case the Kurmali
sub-dialect of Magahi, takes in the mouth of a Kol.

Two dialects hare been inserted in the above list which have not hitherto been
classed as Ohhattisgarhi, mz. % Kalanga and Bhulia. They have hitherto been classed
as dialects of Oriya. They are both clearly forms of Ohhattisgarhi. Kalanga and
Bhulia, when written, are written in the Oriya character. Four dialeofcs, which were
originally classed as forms of Ohhattisgarhi, have been removed from the list. They are
Halabi, Bastari, Bhunjia, and Sadri Kol. An examination of the specimens of Halabi
shows that it is, rather, a mixture of Ohhattisgarhi, Oriya, aad Marathi, and can most
conveniently be considered in connexion with the last-named language. Bastari and
Bhunjia are only other names of Halabi. On the other hand, Sadri Kol, which is
only returned from the Bamra State, is a form of Bihari spoken by aboriginal tribes.
It is identical with the Kurmali sub -dialect of Magahi spoken in the Manbhum
District. It is a curious little island of Bihari in the midst of an Oriya speaking
population.

26 EASTERN HINDI.

No information is available as to the number of speakers of Chhattisgayhi in other
parts of India. The following is the number of speakers in the country in which it is a
vernacular : —

Chhattisgarhi Bpoken at home ......... 3,801,780

„ in the neighbouring Ofiya States ...... 34,095

Sargnjift . 384,546

Broken Dialeote 34,922

Total . 3,755,343

So far as I know, Chhattisgarhi has no literature. As elsewhere in India, itinerant

bards have a repertoire of songs and stories which they recite
when called on. 8everal of these have been published by
Mr. Hiralal Kavyopadhyaya in the grammar mentioned below.

AtFTHOBITY—

HlRAtii. KIvyOpAdhyIta— J. Grammar of the Dialect of Ohhattisgarh in the Central Provinces written
in Hindi by Mr. Hiralal Kavyopadhyaya, tramlated and edited by Oeorge A. Oriereon, Esq.,
0.S. Journal of the Asiatic Society o! Bengal, Vol. Hz, 1890, Ft. I, pp. 1 and 101. Separate
Keprint, Calcutta, 1890.

The usual phonetic rules of Eastern Hindi regarding the shortening of the ante-
penultimate vowel apply to Chhattisgarhi, and need not be
repeated here.
The forms that strike a stranger, who is familiar only with the pure Eastern Hindi
of Oudh, are, the signfof the Dative- Accusative which is often la even in the Accusative,
and the plural termination www. which may be compared with the Ojiya mane. It is
believed that the following sketch of Chhattisgarhi grammar will be found to contain
all that is necessary for the understanding of the specimens given on the subsequent
pages.

LINGUISTIC SURVEY OF INDIA

COMPILED AND EDITED BY

G. A. GRIERSON, CLE., Ph.D., DXitt., I.CLS. (retd.)

© MOTILAL BANARSIDASS

BUNGALOW ROAD, JAWAHAR NAGAR, DELHI-7

NEPALI KHAPRA, VARANASI, (U.P.)

ASHOK RAJ PATH, (opp. patna college) PATNA (bihar)

With kind permission of Govt, of India.

First Edition 1927

reprint 1967

Price Rs. 1250/- ($ 200) for the complete set*

PRINTED IN INDIA BY SHANTILAL JAIN, AT 8HRI JAINENDRA PRESS,
BUNGALOW ROAD, JAWAHARNAOAR, DELHI-? AND PUBLISHED BY
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JAWAHARNAOAR, DELHI-?

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